Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 28 January 2016, Official Report, column 426, on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, how many (a) arms export licences have been awarded to Saudi Arabia and (b) reviews of arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been conducted in 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government is satisfied that extant licenses for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria. The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms exports control regimes in the world.
Information on military and dual use export licences is published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls which are all available to view on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination (including Saudi Arabia). The statistics include the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. Information covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2015 will be published on 19 April 2016. The 1st quarter results for 2016 covering the period 1 January to 31 March 2016 will be published on 19 July 2016.
Since the outset of the conflict in Yemen, the Government has kept all extant licenses and new licensing to Saudi Arabia under continuous review, and has exercised special caution and vigilance in granting new licences for exports to Saudi Arabia, handling each on a case-by-case basis.
